Category: Must Have Monday

Today is Must Have Monday and I’m slacking. It was the boys last Monday of school, I sent off my resumes yesterday and I had a long list of things to clean today. Oh and the fact that the power went off at 3:15am or something like that this morning and we were awake until it came back on could have something to do with me being slightly distracted today.

Typically I decide on my Must Have Monday topic over the weekend, but this was a crazy weekend of fighting over finishing homework. Completing science projects and other parenting things that are not always enjoyable. So I didn’t think about Must Have Monday.

So what must you I have in order to write a Must Have Monday post?

You need sleep. I don’t know about you, but I never function correctly without a full night sleep. I need a good 6 hours, but really I need 8 to function.

You must have a topic to write about and plan it before you sit down to write it. Now don’t get me wrong I don’t blog the whole thing in my head, I just typically have an idea of what I’m going to talk about and a few of the must have items to list.

You must remember that it is Monday and that you write Must Have Monday on Monday.

Hopefully I can remember these steps next week, but I don’t make any promises since it is a holiday. Anyone have a Must Have Monday topic for me to write about????

If you ask my kids what I drink they will probably say Coke or Coffee, but the funny thing about that is I don’t drink either of those very often. I have had one cup of coffee every morning, or almost every morning since we got our Keurig. I don’t drink Coke very often either. Richard and I will split a Coke when we go out to eat. I do drink Coke whenever I have a headache. Whenever I get a headache I first drink a coke, then I grab Excedrin (which also has caffeine in it). This works almost every time for me now. I started that when I was having migraines and was trying to avoid taking the prescription medications. The doctor I had at the time suggested Excedrin and said just get extra strength, it has the same ingredients as the migraine version.

Ok…. back on topic. So the what do I actually drink the most of… WATER! I drink water all day long. So over the years I have has a large variety of different water containment devices. Here are a few of my favorites.

For traveling about, and going to the gym I use myBrita 20 Ounce Sport Water Bottle with 2 Filters – BPA Free – Twin Pack, Blue and Orange. We purchased these originally before our first Disney Cruise. The thought behind it was that we could always create filtered water no matter where we were going. On that trip we got off the ship in Nassau and didn’t want to drink the water when we were on that island. After that, the boys and I began taking these to school because we could refill them in the school sinks and not drink school sink water. Anyone who has been to an elementary school knows the sinks have a level of funk no matter what you do. I take mine with me when I hike and go to the gym. Now I typically do not put ice in this because it is not insulated and will sweat. But, as I mentioned it has a filter that I like, but it also is spill proof which is why send it with the boys to school. It has a pop up top which is pretty easy to open and close, but for the most part you need to squeeze it to get the water out.

As I mentioned last week, we have two types of water containment devices for biking. All four of us have CamelBak Rogue Crux Reservoir Hydration Pack, Black/Graphite, 2.5 L/85 oz as well as CamelBak Podium Chill Insulated Water Bottle, Periwinkle, 21 oz Fill the pack up with ice and then add in the water. It will stay cold while you drink and bike or hike. I have often seen people have these at Disney as well. The water bottle is contoured to fit safely into the cage on the bike and not slip and slide while you ride. The ones I just got for the boys are insulated and which will help them stay cold longer. One thing to be aware of when using the pack is when you aren’t wearing it make sure the pack it NOT sitting on it’s bite valve. I can not tell you how many times we have put the down and found a puddle later (in the car, in the truck, on the ground, or even the kitchen counter). The water bottle has a twist close top, but just like the Brita bottles they don’t really leak even when open since you need to squeeze it.

Here you go… my must have for drinking water. Well I need to go refill “The BEAST” and keep drinking water. Do share… what is your favorite water containment device? You never know when I need to find another one.

The boys start mountain biking lessons today. They have got pretty good at riding their bikes and are decent off the road too, but we wanted them to get some instruction on how to safely hit the trails. So here are our must haves for mountain biking.

First thing obviously is the bike. A mountain bike had much bigger wheels and different suspension than a street bike. They need to be able to go up, down, and over pretty much anything. The boys and Richard have Trek Mountain Bikes and Richard and I have Specialized Mountain Bikes. Yes, I meant to type Richard’s name twice, he has two bikes. His Trek bike is newer and “beefier” than his Specialized that he used in FL.

The next key item you need is a properly fitting helmet. All of us wear helmets and always will. My children learned when they were young that anytime they rode things with wheels they wear helmets. We also showed them how to wear it correctly. The helmet should sit flat on your head and the brim should sit just above your eyebrows. The straps need to be affixed below your chin and prevent the helmet from moving. The helmet should not be able to rock back and forth on your head more than an inch. It should also not be able to lift off your head. One reason the boys know that helmets is not an option is based on this story. When I was pregnant with Colby, Richard when mountain biking with some guys he knew. I received a phone call from him telling me he as on the way to the hospital. He had shattered his collarbone. The crash was bad. When we looked at his helmet when I picked up his bike and gear that one of the guys had collected from him, I noticed a dent in his helmet. I’m not sure Richard even realized that he had hit his head that hard. There wasn’t just a dent, there was a crack in the helmet and the foam on the inside was damaged. BUTTT, Richard’s head was not. If he had not been wearing his helmet that would have been his head, and the shattered collarbone may have seemed minor compared to him smashing his head on that rock instead of his helmet.

Ok enough of my pubic service message about helmets…

This weekend we went out and got the boys new hydration gear for them to use while biking. When we purchased their bikes we had Planet Bike Aluminum water bottle cage – black put on their bikes, this is one way they can tell their bikes apart (Blake’s cage is green and Colby’s is blue). We decided they needed bike specific water bottles (Camelbak Products Big Chill Water Bottle, Carbon, 25-Ounce) These water bottle fit perfectly into the bike water cage and will not slip. They need to have the indents in the top quarter to keep it from rolling out of the cage. We also decided to purchase them hydration packs. These will come in handy once they get more comfortable biking as you don’t have to stop to drink out of them. Richard and I both use them all the time when we bike and I use mine when I hike too. The boys have never had one before and are excited to have their CamelBak HydroBak Crux Reservoir Hydration Pack, Black/Graphite, 1.5 L/50 oz.

Now if you ask Richard what he needs there are a few other items. Richard has egg beater pedals which means he has to have Cycling Shoes. Richard and I both also have Mountain Bike Biking Shorts, and Cycling Gloves . We both carry Multitools Bicycle Repair Tool in our hydration packs. This tool pretty much can fix most anything on your bike or at least help someone who knows how to fix bikes help you fix it enough to get back to your vehicle.

The last big thing that we have for mountain biking is our Yakima FourTimer Hitch Bike Rack. This rack is right now mounted on the hitch on my car. The nice thing about this bike rack compared to many racks is the bike sits on the rack at the tires. There is an arm that brings a “hook” down over the front tire and a strap that holds the bottom of the back tire. So many of the bike racks have the bikes hang on their frame. This isn’t good for the frame of the bike and you have to make sure to balance it perfectly on the hook. With the Yakima FourTimer Hitch Bike Rack, you don’t have anything touching your frame and you can’t put the bike in wrong (for the most part).

So, when it’s time to go, I just need to the Camelbak Products Big Chill Water Bottle, Carbon, 25-Ounce filled. The we can load the bikes into the Yakima FourTimer Hitch Bike Rack. The boys will then bring their helmets with them and they will be good to go. Hopefully they enjoy this mountain biking class. I know Richard is ready for them to be able to hit the trails with more confidence. Me… today I’m going to walk and/or read while they are in their class and we will go from there.

I have decided that I want to have a weekly post on Mondays. I have been debating on this for a bit and decided that Must Have Monday works. One of the big things this does for me is makes it so I don’t have to think about what to blog about on Monday mornings!

Each Monday I will post about some must have items. I have found over the years that many items that I didn’t know I needed later became must haves or at least must use once I’ve had the product.

Since I’m baking cookies, Amish Sugar Cookies, today to take to the boys’ school for their teacher appreciation lunch tomorrow, I figured I’d blog about my cookie baking must haves!

When I was engaged and planning my wedding registry one of the first things I knew I was putting on my list was a stand mixer! I had a decent hand mixer and I still use this at times, but one knows that every good baker needs a stand mixer… right??

While my butter, oil and sugar cream together, let me tell you a few tips that I’ve learned. I keep my granulated sugar in a food storage container like the one pictured. I do that so it stays fresh and there is no chance of sugar falling all over the floor if the bag tips in the pantry. I keep my flours, as well as, powdered and brown sugars in the freezer. This keeps the flour fresh and bug free, after living in the heat and humidity of Florida I appreciate this knowledge a bit more. Not that I’m using nuts today, but keep your nuts in the freezer too, they won’t spoil as quickly.

Time to check on my batter. When using a stand mixer, you need to make sure you do a good job scraping the bowl. Let me grab my spatula and get the mixer ready for the next step. I have this set of spatulas and I like the variety of sizes and styles. I use the “spoonula” when I’m baking since it has a decent size curved spatula and can get in there and get all the good stuff off the bottom.

A few food must haves when baking cookies (well at least in my book they are must haves)… you must have real butter. I typically buy salted butter even though most recipes call for unsalted, and I still add the salt to the recipe. I love the taste the salt brings out in sweet recipes. I also believe that you MUST use pure vanilla extract. I try very very hard not to use artificial flavors in any of my cooking/baking. I also only use real sugars. Ok so the recipes aren’t going to win any healthy eating contest, but they will taste good and, in my opinion, as long as you have it in moderation… why waste calories on fake food?

Time to whisk together the dry ingredients. I pulled out my OXO Good Grips 3-Quart Mixing Bowl, White/Black. This is the bowl I always pull out when my boys were helping in the kitchen when they were little. It had a very sturdy base and didn’t tip when they used it. I like the fact that it has a wide lip and spout which helps when transferring the dry ingredients into the mixer. Make sure you have the mixer on low and you do this is small doses or you will we sweeping up your dry ingredients off the floor.

I’m tossing this dough into the fridge so it can chill out for about 30 minutes. The recipe doesn’t call for it, but this recipe reminds me of snickerdoodles and snickerdoodles dough gets chilled… so off to the fridge I go with the dough!

Another item I didn’t know was a must have until I had one, or three, is OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop, Small, Stainless Steel. I have three different sizes of these scoops. I love that using them helps with the consistency of the size of the cookie or other item I’m making.

Once I have dished out all the dough onto the cookie sheets using the cookie scoop I’ll bake them off. I need to bring 2 dozen to the boys school and if I have extra I’ll send them into work with Richard. If not, maybe I’ll just have to bake again later in the week. Seems like I’ve been baking a lot on Thursdays.

I’ll be sure to share pictures of the finished cookies. I have made these before and I know they are yummy! Last time I froze half the batch to pull out at a later date, you can do this with cookie dough before or after baking. Such a versatile product, don’t you think.

Well you will have to let me know what you think of the first installment of Must Have Monday. Do you have any of these products or something similar? What are your must haves for baking cookies? What other must have ideas would you like me to blog about? Share you thoughts, click on the links, join the fun… and please read my disclosure statement since this post contains links. Remember that if you purchase items through these links it doesn’t cost you any more money and helps me out too. Thanks!